Saudi Arabia sets world record with largest and most energy-efficient desalination plants
Saudi Arabia has broken two new world records in water desalination technology with its latest innovation.
The Saudi Water Authority was awarded the Guinness World Records titles for operating the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant and achieving the lowest energy consumption for a facility.
The record-breaking plant, located in Al-Khobar, is part of the second phase of the city’s production system and can produce over 670,000 cubic metres of desalinated water daily.
It was built on a small plot of land, made possible through new engineering techniques.
The record was officially recognised in February this year.
The second record was for energy efficiency at the Shuaibah plant, where engineers managed to lower energy use during the salt separation stage to 1.7 kilowatt-hours per cubic metre.
Total energy use came to 2.34 kilowatt-hours per cubic metre, lower than any similar plant in the world.
This achievement was officially recorded in April and has been praised by the World Bank.
Saudi Arabia now holds 11 Guinness World Records in the water sector.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
